Fan-tastic

This is a post about a fan. F-A-N. Other corny title options: #1 Fan, Office Fan-tasy, Fan-cy Pants. So feel lucky you got the title you got.

As I’ve mentioned before, Chicago summers can be brutally hot. At least for a few weeks. Long enough to make me miss winter a little bit.

During those hot weeks, I wear gym-type clothes during my commute (not that I ever step foot in a gym, but you know what I mean). I sweat a lot, so wearing proper work clothes is a bad idea.

summer heat commuting outfit

When I get to the office, I change into my skirts and suits. Until last month, I had to use an Action Wipe or something similar to cool down with before changing.

That’s before I got my fan.

A colleague, who happens to work for facilities, noticed me fanning myself with a sad piece of paper after arriving to work and later magically appeared with a sleek floor fan.

sorta like this one

Since then, the fan has been stationed next to my desk. I turn it on first thing in the morning. After 3 minutes in front of the fan, I am 95% better, no action wipe needed. It’s pretty amazing. And then 15 minutes later the fan is off and I’m wrapped in my pashmina because the air conditioning in the building is so cold.

How do you cool down in the summer? Anyone else discover the power of the fan?

That’s so funny, our building (the library) is cold in the morning and hot in the afternoon. Today my assistant had her portable heater on (which was totally crazy). My main problem is getting home in the afternoon because we don’t have a/c and I have a steep climb right before getting home. It is great because here in the desert it’s usually cool in the morning, so getting to work is no problem.

That’s so funny, our building (the library) is cold in the morning and hot in the afternoon. Today my assistant had her portable heater on (which was totally crazy). My main problem is getting home in the afternoon because we don’t have a/c and I have a steep climb right before getting home. It is great because here in the desert it’s usually cool in the morning, so getting to work is no problem.

Well I’m sweating even if i just look on my folder :-D That’s why I have to change the clothes everytime.
I’m lucky that we have here shower so firt thing at work is shower and second working clothes.
The good on it is, that my morning commute is almost downhill :-)

Well I’m sweating even if i just look on my folder :-D That’s why I have to change the clothes everytime.
I’m lucky that we have here shower so firt thing at work is shower and second working clothes.
The good on it is, that my morning commute is almost downhill :-)

Yeah, the world of fans! Remember when mine broke in Chicago? So sad. I always have an old school Chinese fan in my purse. I sometimes even use it at red lights. And combined with air conditioned surroundings, I am cooled off in a flash!

i have this sad little desk fan that i use at work – it’s one of those tiny 5″ ones you can get at walmart for $6. it’s good for cooling off the face but it definitely takes more than 3 minutes hehe.

the thing that always trips me up is how cold our air conditioning is in the office (cold enough for me to keep my space heater on for most of the day)… yet when i roll in on my bike i can’t cool down fast enough!

anyway, nothing beats lying in front of a fan! i have one at home, too, so at the end of the day i just lay on my bed & point the breeze in my direction :)

I have a wonderful oscillating fan at work and I use it just about everyday in the summer. It’s on now, it’s five o’clock, and I must turn it off, get dressed, and leave for my bike ride home. i’m glad you discovered the beauty of the FAN.

In the south, one simply exchanges the heat of the day for the humidity of night, so cooling down only happens two ways, air conditioning, or wait for winter. Seriously, after getting off the bike, a good fain possibly backed by air conditioning is great. Second is a nice glass of water, iced tea, or if you’re from Atlanta, a Coke. Water is the best choice, really, and it is important to maintain hydration. In extreme cases, the only thing worse than sweating, is not sweating. Be careful out there. :-)

I usually have a long, uhm… after sweat. I keep sweating for a long time after I stop biking (especially in winter; cold outside, too hot inside! I hardly sweat while I’m biking though). I would love a fan, but it’s not always possible. I often hold my wrists under a running tab. The cold water cools you down nicely. And I sometime put a damp (paper)towel in the back of my neck. And I splash some cold water in my face and keep drying off my face until the after-sweating has stopped (it’s mostly my face that sweats, and it’s worse when I have applied sunscreen or something like that, the oily layer makes it worse). I guess the humidity has a lot to do with it as well…

That’s exactly what I do (and with a name like mine, it’s an obvious idea to come up with!). I have a small fan on my desk which I use every morning when I come in to work. London summer is probably nothing like Chicago’s. We rarely reach anything above 25C. But even so you can still get quite hot and bothered after a 40 minute ride. I don’t wear special clothes so the fan is god-sent. You feel cool and dry after 10mins.

I’m very fortunate – my work has a locker room & showers! I keep toiletries in a locker and bring a change of clothes in with me. After a nice warm shower to clean off, I turn the water temp down and rinse off in some nice cool water.

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As two women who practice city cycling with style and think you can too, we started this blog to share our stories, learn more about cycling and encourage others to rediscover the fun of riding a bike. All opinions and reviews are our own, and we are not paid to provide them. Check the "About us" page for more details.